Nathan Gonzalez

In response to the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which claimed that Iran had halted its secret nuclear weapons program in 2003, Gonzalez stated the following:

According to his biography on The Huffington Post, Gonzalez has worked on several political campaigns, as co-founder and political director of Latinos for America, and in 2004 as a staffer on Governor Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in Iowa and New Mexico. A recent blog entry by Gonzalez, titled "On Iraq and Iran, Obama Seems to Get It," suggests a degree of support for the foreign policy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Gonzalez has a B.A. in political science from UCLA and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. In 2002, he received a research prize from UCLA. His research "predicted that a U.S. invasion would bring about massive sectarian strife, pervasive anti-Americanism in Iraq, and a stronger Iran."

Nathan Gonzalez (born in 1979) is an American scholar, author and journalist based in Orange County, California.

According to Gonzalez, Iran's post-1979 expressions of anti Western sentiment have been part of a "cult of anti-Americanism" that Ayatollah Khomeini put forth as "a regime identifier, using extremism to tell his supporters from his detractors. Much like being a member of the Communist Party in China, taking an anti-American or pro-theocracy line in Iran has served as a calling card to show one's allegiance to Khomeini and the revolution." He goes on to write that the cult of anti-Americanism "continues to serve as a sign of regime affiliation, rather a literal declaration of the regime's foreign policy." Gonzalez writes that in contrast to the government's rhetoric, Iran "has one of the most U.S.-friendly populations in the world; certainly the most pro-American in the Muslim Middle East."

Gonzalez perceives Iran's modern popular movements, including the 1978-1979 Revolution, as part of a two-pronged trend toward independence from foreign intervention on the one hand, and "independence from unjust rulers" on the other. According to Gonzalez, the phenomenon comprises "roughly the last one and a half centuries of Iranian modern history. This trajectory has led Iran to violently release itself from the shackles of foreign intervention, and has put Iran closer to homegrown democracy than any nation in the neighboring Arab world." According to Gonzalez, the first part of the trajectory (seeking independence from foreign influence) has been achieved, but at the expense of the second goal, that of ridding Iran of autocratic rulers. He considers the trajectory an ongoing phenomenon that will likely lead Iran toward greater freedoms, as long as it is unimpeded by outside powers.